Chennai, July 14 (TIWN) The 20-hour countdown for the July 15 early morning lift-off of India's heavy rocket nicknamed 'Bahubali' carrying the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft is progressing smoothly, Indian space agency officials said.

"The countdown began at 6.51 am on Sunday," K. Sivan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told IANS.  Standing at about 44 metre tall, the 640-tonne rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) is nicknamed 'Bahubali'. And just like the hero in the hit film by the same name lifted a heavy 'lingam', the rocket will carry the 3.8 tonne Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft.  About 16 minutes into its flight, the Rs 375 crore GSLV-Mk III rocket is expected to sling the Rs 603 crore Chandrayaan-2 into an Earth parking 170x40,400 km orbit.